At a loss with death wobble
- Thread starter Lucky!
- Start date
Not sure if yours is lifted, but when I took mine to a Toyota shop for a full day they couldn’t find anything and after $300 the reply was “go buy a Toyota”. I found a Jeep specialist and he identified my trackbar was at an angle that was not consistent with design specs. He replaced the trackbar and instantly the wobble was gone. He also scolded me for having 35” tires balanced at Discount tire and removed 100% of the stick on weights and balanced all tires.
For me it was control arms, 6 of the 8 had some play in the bushings. Took a crowbar to make them move, but they moved! I replaced with Moog control arms equivalent to stock, with zero issues since.
It’s been a few weeks so far no issues once we installed the new wheels and balanced. Also installed adjustable track bars with alignment. I 100% support what the experts in the forums have been saying to start with balancing the wheels and tires. But find a place that can do a road force test. That’s when we learned it was the wheels themselves that were bad. New wheels, no issues.
I guess I spoke too soon. I’ve felt a little play in the steering wheel but drives very straight. On highway just now and hit a rough spot in the road and the felt a lot of play/shimmy not quite a full death wobble but not fun either. Worried it will work up to death wobble. Double checked new JKS track bar for torque and both bolts are to spec.
You're certain when you did the dry steering test, with the tires firmly on the ground, that there was no sideways play in the end joints at both ends of the drag link, tie rod, and track bar?
I’ll did before new track bar and alignment but will do it as soon as I get a helper at the house.
Or use a camera on a mini tripod. Position at a joint, with good lighting. Start video, move steering wheel yourself, stop video. Rinse. Repeat.
Leaving the rare freaky cases out, most death wobble is caused by tires and /or lose-worn components or components not properly torqued.
If a hard hit sets it off it’s usually more worn components than tires-
Either tires are perfect or not-
Components can be randomly replaced and in various stages of condition.
The slop in the system defeats or the tire imbalance overpowers the systems’ ability to track.
If a hard hit sets it off it’s usually more worn components than tires-
Either tires are perfect or not-
Components can be randomly replaced and in various stages of condition.
The slop in the system defeats or the tire imbalance overpowers the systems’ ability to track.
So I can share the results which is a little embarrassing because I didn’t think about it but may help the next person. Dry test showed no issues, I went through everything and rechecked torque settings. Everything was tight. Took to Jeep dealership willing to look at a 20 year old Jeep. They went through everything as well. The culprit was that the lugs on the passenger side were not properly torqued when new tires and wheels installed. Was enough to cause the feeling in the steering wheel. Too busy looking underneath totally forgot the lugs. Just picked it up, drove perfect for a 20 year old Jeep. Still worth the dealer fee to validate what I was seeing underneath.
Lugs will often loosen on new wheels, which is one reason it is recommended to check and retighten lugs after a small amount of miles after installing new wheels. They may have been torqued correctly and backed off.